IFPI chief executive Victoria Oakley says the music industry should use AI while protecting the systems that support artists’ livelihoods. The trade body has begun work on identifying AI-generated songs, excluding them from its international charts and tackling streaming fraud through industry-wide cooperation.
Watch Desk analysis
What happened
In an interview with Billboard published on 5 November, Oakley described three initiatives IFPI launched in June: tagging and identifying AI-generated music on streaming services, disqualifying AI-generated songs from its more than 60 international charts, and combating streaming fraud.
On fraud, Oakley says IFPI is starting with distributors. The proposed measures include customer checks, stronger vetting and better data sharing, with the aim of making fraud harder to carry out. IFPI plans to consult distributors on the principles before moving towards accountability and compliance. Work with streaming services on practical anti-fraud steps is still to come.
Oakley also argues that governments should protect the basis on which creative work can support people’s livelihoods. She points to Australia’s debate over copyright exceptions for AI as a concern, while saying the music industry should pursue licensing and find ways to use AI as well as guard against its risks.
Why it matters
This is a concrete attempt by a major music trade body to turn broad arguments about AI and streaming fraud into industry practices. Labelling AI-generated songs and setting chart rules could affect how music is identified and counted. On fraud, the proposed checks and data sharing could change what distributors and streaming services are expected to do.
The approach is still being developed. IFPI is consulting distributors, and the next phase for streaming services has yet to be set out. Oakley’s interview describes the organisation’s plans and views, not rules already adopted across the industry.
Our read
The useful part is the move from arguing about AI in the abstract to asking who identifies tracks, who checks distributors and how streaming services share information. The tricky part will be making those rules workable across a business where no single player controls the whole chain. IFPI is right to seek cooperation; the test will be whether its principles become practices people can see and assess.
What to watch
- What distributors say about IFPI’s proposed checks and whether the principles become a common standard.
- When IFPI sets out practical measures for streaming services.
- How AI-generated tracks are identified and treated under IFPI’s chart rules.
- Whether copyright policy debates, including in Australia, produce rules that preserve licensing options for music creators.
Discussion spark: Should IFPI press for common, industry-wide rules on AI music and fraud, or should each platform set its own standards?
Sources and evidence
- Source update (5 November 2026, 15:40 UTC)
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